It's All About Family

The Potter Mansion

From approximately 1901 to late 1936, this home sat at the corner of present day South Main Street and Cedar Street (heading towards Grandview Avenue) in Wallingford, Connecticut.

The home was built for Mary Kate Linsly Potter. Mary Kate was born in 1848 to Dr. Jared Linsly and his wife, Catherine, and raised in New York City. She married Orlando Brunson Potter in 1880 after the death of his first wife. Potter was a millionaire who owned many properties in the city, a lawyer, and an ex-congressman, as well as a prominent figure in the business and political life of New York. He died on January 2, 1894, 14 years into their marriage. He also left four children, ages 16 through 25, from his first marriage.

Mary Kate’s sister Sophia Linsly was married to Noah Linsley and they lived in Wallingford at 353 South Main Street on the corner of Pine Street. The home was built in 1880 and still stands today. Some residents may recognize it as Dr. Lawrence’s dental office and home for many years.

Sophia encouraged Mary Kate to come to Wallingford and she had the perfect location. The corner of South Main and Hall Street as it was known at the time. Perfect because Sophia owned the land! Sale records from the town clerk’s office listed it as 214 feet front and rear and 330 feet deep.

*The Potter Mansion early years* *origin of picture unknown*

Mrs. Potter hired the C.F. Wooding Company to build her home. It had 10 rooms, three bathrooms, five fireplaces with attractive mantlepieces and a staircase of unusual beauty. The rooms were very large and the paneling denoted excellent workmanship. It stood on a large tract of land beautifully situated upon which a large number of fine stately trees added to the beauty of the place. (Record Journal 9/2/1936).

*1905 Wallingford map showing location of Potter Mansion and the Linsley Home*

Mary Kate, or Mrs. O.B. Potter as she was known in the newspapers, used her Wallingford home each year from late May/Early June until mid-November. It was known as “The Cedars” (Record Journal 6/12/1908) and “Linsly Lodge” (Record Journal 6/28/1911) during her use and her arrivals and departures were noted throughout her time here.

*The summer comings and goings of Mrs. Potter*

In the winter, she lived on East 80th Street in New York City with three servants.

During the time period Mrs. Potter owned her home, there was one home built in the vicinity of it. The newspaper reported in December of 1924 that a permit for a home for Emil Schmidt was submitted. The property was located “rear of Potter Mansion” and it would be a one story, six room bungalow western design with a sleeping porch and breakfast room.

In early September of 1925, the newspaper reported that Mrs. Potter was in critical condition and in the care of two nurses. She passed away at her South Main Street home on September 16, 1925 at the age of 77. Her body was removed to New York for her funeral and she is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn alongside her husband Orlando Brunson Potter and other family members.

After her death, Sophia and Noah Linsley maintained the home and allowed it to be used for various events. The Congregational Church held a Benefit Bridge-Whist (card games) fundraiser for their Christmas Fund and a flower show hosted by the Wallingford Garden Club brought over 500 visitors, many from out of town. (Record Journal 9/16/1930)

Unfortunately, as time passed with no one living there or maintaining it, the home fell into a state of disrepair, and was finally boarded up to prevent continued vandalism.

For the next few years, there were negotiations for the sale of the home and property but nothing came to fruition. Finally, in June of 1936 the property was sold to Joseph Busa/Buza who intended to tear down the mansion and convert it into building lots for real estate development (Record Journal 6/3/1936)

The dismantling began in late August of 1936 and half of it was removed to be used for other construction projects. Buza’s plan was to place 4 homes on South Main Street, 3 on Hall (Cedar) Street, and one “in the rear”. Construction for two homes on Hall Street were completed in the last 3 months of 1936 for Captain J. Orten Gadd and Frank Ollayos. (Record Journal 9/2/1936).

In early 1937, a home was completed on South Main Street for Robbins A. Hall. It was a 7 room colonial and contained a tile bath and a 2 car garage. (Record Journal 1/30/1937). # 1 on map below.

Maltby Stevens awarded a building contract to Joseph Buza for his home on the corner of South Main Street and Hall Avenue. It was to be an “English style cottage” and would cost approximately $9,000. In the same article Joseph Buza is building a home for his family. (Record Journal 2/13/37 and 3/3/1937) # 2 on map below.

Once the seven homes were completed, there was another development in the works. This development contained 14 building lots and would be known as Morningside Terrace. The property was sold to Joseph F. Buza, a relative of the Potter Mansion development by Emil Schmidt. “The land affords an excellent view of Long Hill and beyond that to the eastern mountain range for miles in both directions.” Emil and his wife lived at the end of Hall Street and their home sits at the corner with Morningside Terrace. (The Journal 9/21/1937).

Between 1951 and 1955, Hall Street became Cedar Street. Cedar now runs from South Orchard Street east to a dead end just past Morningside Terrace. All the homes built in 1937 on Hall Street and Morningside Terrace still stand today.

*2025 view of South Main Street and Hall/Cedar Street*

Reviewing town directories for the 1937 time period I matched up the names to the homes:
#1 – Robbins A. Hall
#2 – Maltby Stevens
#3 – Herbert Crump (not mentioned)
#4 – Frank Ollayos
#5 – Captain J. Orten Gadd
#6 – Emil Schmidt – built in 1924
#7 – Edward Clark (not mentioned)

I thought it might be fun to look at a side by side of this area between 1905 and 2025

I’m not sure exactly when I heard about the Potter Mansion. We walked or drove down South Main Street and Hall Street every day growing up in 1960s and 1970s, and I wonder if one of my parents ever mentioned it. In 2014, a picture showed up in a Facebook group about old homes but no one had any information. The idea that a house of this size was on that corner for a relatively short period of time has always astounded me and I just wanted to tell its story.

*A later picture based on the size of the tree in front*

The Caregiver

The Week 2 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is “A Record That Adds Color”.

In 1912, my grandmother, Julianna Ingram Posluszny was 24 years old with a husband, a daughter Antoinette, born in January 1909, and a son, Conrad, born in November 1910.

*Julianna, Konrad and Antoinette (late 1909)*

Her cousin, Mary Kukulska Juszczak came to the United States with Julianna’s sister, Marianna in 1907. Mary’s daughter Mary was born in 1910. Sadly, some time in the same year, Mary’s husband died in a work accident at the sugar refinery. But the following year she met and married Michael Zupko.

It was in April of 1912 that Mary gave birth to a son Michael Zupko. The only record to be found is their headstone with the year, 1912.

Suddenly Julianna found herself as little Mary’s guardian. Her stepfather didn’t want to take care of her and asked my grandmother with a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby on the way to take her. How could she refuse? She now had 3 children under the age of 4.

Her son, Louis, was born in February of 1913. She and her husband, Konrad, hung in there as long as they could but in 1914 they realized they had to give Mary up for adoption.

Fortunately, Herman and Elizabeth Fauth, German Methodists who had recently lost a daughter, heard of Mary through their church and petitioned to adopt her. Mary never had to go to an orphanage.

The adoption was final in October of 1914. My grandparents would go on to have a daughter Julia in 1917, and my mother Elizabeth in 1922.

What a loving thing my grandmother did! Two children of her own and one on the way, and she takes in, I’m sure without hesitation, another 2 year old. She was always a very giving person but this information helped me see her in such a different light.

I wrote about this in January of 2020 when I was contacted by Mary’s granddaughter and 2 years later when “who died when” was determined by an ancestry relative.

Admirable Ancestor

The Week 1 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks for 2026 is “an ancestor I admire” and after looking at my family tree, I’ve decided that falls on my great grandmother Carolina Straub Posluszny Bonk. Although, technically, she is not my biological great grandmother, her son, Konrad and my grandmother Julianna Ingram were 2nd or 3rd cousins, so there is Carolina DNA in my body.

Carolina was born on April 12, 1855 in Wildenthal (what is now Dzikowiec) in the Galicia region of Poland. She was part of “an ethnic German population living in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in the Austrian Empire established in 1772 as a result of the First Partition of Poland” (Wikipedia). This area was also known as Austrian Galicia or Austrian Poland for my family members asking are we Polish or Austrian or German? The answer would be “all of them”!

If her siblings list is accurate, Carolina was the 11th child born of 15 to her parents. Four of them born prior to her, died at birth or in their infancy. Carolina herself would give birth to 14 children with eight living past five years old.

She married Joseph Posluszny on May 31, 1876 in Wildenthal and she gave birth to her first child in March of 1879 when she was 24 years old.

Seven months following the birth of her daughter Elizabeth Eva in September of 1896, her husband and my great grandfather, Joseph Posluszny passed away. Carolina became a widow at the age of 41 with seven children ranging in age from 16 to 7 months old.

Last September, another of Carolina’s great-granddaughters through her son Joseph contacted me after finding this blog in google. She told me the following: “Pa’s father had been the village blacksmith. Pa’s father had an apprentice. His name was John Bonk. When Pa’s father died, John Bonk took over the blacksmith shop and apparently the family. Pa was not happy with this and it was about that time that he left Austria.”

Carolina and John Bonk were married on May 12, 1898. Carolina gave birth to a daughter who died at birth and in 1903 at the age of 48, gave birth to a son Walter John Bonk.

Her older sons did head to the United States shortly after her marriage to John. Her son John left in 1899, Konrad in 1900, and Joseph in 1901.

Carolina, John, daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and their son Walter immigrated in July of 1907 and resided in Perth Amboy New Jersey until their final destination of Wallingford Connecticut.

*The Posluszny/Bonk Family about mid/late 1907*

This photo ends up in nearly every Posluszny post. Carolina is seated on the right, with her son Walter in front of her. She is 52 years old at the time of this photo in 1907.

*Frank and Josephine Posluszny wedding 8/1909 – Carolina front left*, *husband John Bonk behind her*

She, along with her daughter Mary, was an active member in the local Polish National Catholic Church in Wallingford, St. Casimir’s Church.

Carolina died at the age of 70 (not 64 as the newspaper article said) after suffering from stomach cancer. My Aunt Judy told me in a conversation years ago, that she and her mother, my grandmother Julianna, would go to Carolina’s house a few blocks away to take care of her when she was ill. Also, that my grandfather Konrad and Julianna were kind to her second husband. Carolina and John gave my grandparents the downpayment for their home in Wallingford on Clifton Street. I found it touching that my grandmother did the same for my parents when they purchased our home here on Atkinson Lane.

She is buried in the Polish National cemetery in Wallingford.

*Carolina Bonk – St. Casimir’s cemetery*

I can’t imagine a life with 14 siblings, or to give birth to 14 children only to have 3 die in the same year from smallpox. I don’t know the cause of her husband’s death at the age of 43, but with young children still at home and a business to run, the best option was to married the hired help. She did what she had to, to survive. She was well-respected in her church and community at their death and that makes me proud of her.

Looking Back at 2025

Yesterday, I took a trip down memory lane of the people I researched and wrote about this past year. I’m proud of the information I found, stories I wrote, and living relatives I uncovered during my search. Here’s a review month by month….

January

I started the year with a couple of posts from the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The first topic was “In the Beginning,” and I chose to write about my parents’ courtship and wedding. I had fun going through old photos of them from their wedding and trips with my aunt and uncle. Ancestry provided the high school yearbook pages and my mom’s collection of postcards showed us the sweetness in their relationship.

The second post was “Favorite Photo.” My favorite photo will always be the Posluszny Family photo that started this crazy research journey! I think it is in every post I wrote about the family this year. It’s probably time to frame it and put it on a wall.

The third post in January told the story of my great-uncle John Posluszny. At the end of December 2024, I wrote about solving the “mystery” of his death in 1942, so I really wanted to start my Posluszny series with his story. I connected with his granddaughter, Janine, in 2012, and she shared the photos of her father, Stanley with me. I enjoyed finding and sharing the newspaper articles with her. I currently have a message out to a great-granddaughter of John and hope I hear from her to make another family connection.

February

On the 1st of February, I wrote about my mother’s diagnosis of brain cancer. Even 38 years later, memories were fresh.

Next up was a little break from family with a post about a sampler completed in 1817 and found by my father in the attic of his paint store in the early 1980s. He held on to it always curious about where it came from. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about researching it until after he passed away in 2010. I still haven’t delivered it to the Portland Historical Society!

Another great uncle, Joseph Posluszny, was my next subject. I can hear to this day my Aunt Judy saying, “Uncle Joe Post”. I’ve worked with his great granddaughter on Ancestry for many years and the majority of pictures I have came from her. In September, I was contacted by one of Joseph’s granddaughters who lives in Connecticut about 45 minutes away. I look forward to getting to know her better and hearing her stories!

This post was born during my Posluszny research when I noticed, after 15 years of research, that my great grandmother, Caroline Straub is listed on the 1910 census as having given birth to 14 children with 8 of them at the time still living! I headed over to the amazing Geneteka website, started searching, and managed to find the records for five children who died either at birth or a very young age.

March

Early in March we said goodbye to our sweet chihuahua, Wally and late in March was the anniversary of my dad’s passing.

April

The 98th anniversary of my grandmother’s passing was in early April and if you don’t know her story, you can read it here.

I wrote about my great uncle Frank Posluszny. He was a tough one over the years to find anything about because he was in a mental institution from the 1930 federal census to the 1940 census. I had very little information on the family and wasn’t sure where to look. But as the years go by, more information becomes available and I was able to find his great-granddaughter! We emailed back and forth and she actually knew him! She sent pictures which I included in his story.

*Josephine, Frank, and Mildred Poslushny*

May

I spent May working on my great uncle Charles Posluszny’s story. I posted once to check in to say I was working on him and at the end of the month, completed it. Once again, there are grandchildren and great grandchildren alive, but in this case, I don’t have a way to contact them.

June

June was busy with visiting relatives and a trip to Chicago so there were no posts in June.

July

In July I wrote about the sisters in the Posluszny family, Mary Posluszny Biega, and Elizabeth Posluszny Laçź. One who was well known and the other who disappeared without a trace.

August

I finally made it to the last of the Posluszny children, Walter Bonk, son of Caroline Straub and her second husband John Bonk. I knew all of his children and his grandchildren.

My second post was the result of a stranger’s request on Ancestry looking for “living relatives of Alfred Donroe”. He was my cousin in law’s father and he died in World War II. This person in France is working with citizens of Gouesnou France to create a permanent memorial to the soldiers and civilians who died there. I received a comment on there from my younger cousin, and we had a nice email conversation. He and his wife plan to go to France to see the monument.

September

The last quarter of the year I focused on my maternal grandfather and his family. Their lives were so entwined for many so years, that the first story takes you from Jacob and Katherine’s arrival in the United States through 1916. This was Part 1.

October

Engram Family Part 2 took place from 1916 through the 1930s. I became acquainted with a second cousin a few years ago and he sent a slew of family pictures. I also began searching on Newspapers(dot)com using family member’s names where I found Kitty and Louise playing basketball!

Later in the month, I wrote about Theresa, Katherine, and Louise from the 1930s through their lives. My half aunt Joanne shared photos with me as well as few letters Katherine wrote to Theresa’s daughter Irene. I’m grateful to Joanne for the information and the years of emails back and forth. I saved them all and finally printed them out and put them in order. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that suddenly made sense!

November

Five posts in November! First up was the lives of Elizabeth and Hannah. Elizabeth had an interesting situation which deserved a post to explain it. It’s amazing what a person can find when they look hard enough, and have help from strangers on Ancestry! Thanks to Newspaper(dot)com again, I discovered a third cousin living about 20 minutes away!

In time for Veterans Day, I shared a post from June 2024 called The Effects of War about my grandfathers in World War I, and uncles in World War II.

Then it was back to the Engram Family with Jacob Sr.’s story. I wish I knew more about him!

My cousin, Brian, messaged me pictures of a letter Jacob Jr. wrote to his sister Theresa. The war was over and he was waiting to go home. When Brian and I got together during Thanksgiving week, we sifted through all the Engram pictures and letters and there were more letters from Jacob to his sisters. They were very interesting to read.

December

I wrapped the year up with a re-post of December 7, 1941, the story of my Uncle Walt during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I rounded out the Engram family with the final story of my grandfather Jacob Jr. I learned so much about him from my Aunt Joanne’s emails that again, didn’t make sense until it was time to write his story.

And here we are – the end of the year! I’ve signed up again for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge and I will be looking through my family tree for new ancestors to tell you about!

Happy New Year!

Engram Family Part 4 – Jacob Jr.

We are now at the end of the Engram Family stories, and I’ve saved my grandfather for last. His relationship with my grandmother is included here.

As I mentioned in my post about his father, Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr. made sure his father was cared for throughout his life. I think the same applies to his relationship with his sisters.

On December 16, 1934, Jacob, at the age of 39, married Anna Marie Winner of Vleigh Road, Queens, NY. She was the 24-year-old daughter of Henry and Joanna Winner. She had a brother who was six years older. They lived on a farm, which was close to Jacob’s farm in Queens in the 1930 census. Her father and brother were farmers, and in their household were three male boarders who worked on the farm, and a 44-year-old woman who was listed as a servant.

*Jacob, Anna, Henry, and Joanna December 16, 1934*

In the 1940 census, Jacob and Anna were renting at 136 Catskill Avenue in Yonkers, and Jacob was a partner with his childhood friend, Morris (Mo) Sherman, at Sherman Chevrolet, at 561 Central Park, Yonkers, NY.. In addition to the dealership, they owned a parking lot directly across from the main entrance to Yonkers Raceway, which now includes Empire City Casino. During racing season, they took turns working the lot with the help of a crew of his sister Elizabeth’s relatives.

Jacob and Anna’s daughter Joanne was born on March 11, 1945. She has the same birthday as my husband. This was 10 years into their marriage, and Jacob was approaching 50 years old.

When Joanne was 7, Jacob and Mo sold the dealership, but became partners in the business of second mortgages and, of course, the parking lot. Joanne says, “he was an ‘at-home’ Dad for most of my life…”

Jacob’s education ended at 7th grade, but he was born with a love for reading, history, and travel. Every day, he went out for the Daily News and the Daily Mirror, and the local Yonkers paper was delivered to the house. On weekends, he picked up the New York Times. Multiple magazines were delivered to the house each month. He loved reading biographies of famous men, plus subjects related to history.

The love of reading, the books, magazines, and newspapers are identical to my mother and to our house growing up!

He loved to travel. I found a ship manifest from his return passage to the United States from Havana, Cuba, in April of 1928. One of his favorite locations was Florida. Joanne says that when she was very young, they spent parts of winter in Miami, visiting Aunt Joan (formerly Hannah). When Joanne was nine, the family traveled on the Queen Mary out of New York and spent seven weeks traveling through France and into Germany to visit her mother’s relative in northern Germany. After she graduated from high school, they traveled back to Europe, visiting England and the northern countries.

Travel didn’t have to be something grand, though. Jacob found enjoyment in “going for a ride”. It could be an evening ride through the back roads of Westchester, or weekend trips “out on the island” (Long Island), sometimes to New Jersey or up the coast to Connecticut and beyond.

Unfortunately, drinking was a problem in their home, on a “cyclical basis”. He drank, and her mother would join him. He would go from very quiet to loud and angry. This was something Joanne talked about in our correspondence: of her being the sober one in the house and seeing and hearing a lot of “not for children” content growing up. Perhaps his drinking led to his estrangement from his sister Kitty in the early 1950s.

But because it was cyclical, for most of the year she was able to see another side of Jacob. She saw what a generous, quiet man he was, who loved to read the papers, tend to his flowers, and visit historical sites. A man who was as comfortable with bums in the Bowery as he was in First Class on the Queen Mary.

Jacob suffered a heart attack in 1966 when he was 71 years old and became ill in late 1973. Joanne was living in Pennsylvania, and by the time she came home, he was in the hospital, where he died on January 24, 1974.

Twenty-seven years later, my cousin Judy received an email from Joanne in response to a card Judy sent to Joanne’s (now deceased) mother informing her that our Aunt Tootsie was in a nursing home. Ann Engram must have been on Aunt Tootsie’s Christmas Card list. As they say, “the rest is history!”

December 7, 1941

Today, like that day 84 years ago, was a Sunday morning.

My uncle, Walter Jakiela, was fresh out of radio school and soaking in the sun of Pearl Harbor, 5,000 miles from his home in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Little did he know what awaited him that day…

I wrote his story as a part of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks back in May of 2024. You can read about his experience in Day of Infamy.

Thoughts From France

While I work on the final post for the Engram Family which will be my grandfather, Jacob Jr., I wanted to share something I received from my new second cousin, Brian.

This is a letter from my grandfather Jacob, Jr to his sister, Brian’s grandmother, Tess. He is in France at the end of World War I. The war ended on November 11, 1918 and now he is writing on November 18, 1918. He talks of writing letters every week, sometimes two and three, but not receiving any letters. He thought he’d receive more. He says they’re told they’ll be home soon, but things keep changing, and he hopes it will be soon. I’ve roughly transcribed the letter but it’s fun reading the original.

*Letter from Jacob Jr, to sister Tess November 28, 1918*

Brian is the grandson of Barbara Theresa Engram Murphy, oldest child of Jacob Sr, and Katherine (Duy) Engram. Since his mother, Irene, was also the oldest of her family and cousins and lived in the same home for many years, she was the keeper of the family memories.

A few years ago, Brian shared many photos with my Aunt Joanne and me. A lot of them are from the Murphy side, but there were also many Engram family photos and newspaper clippings.

Brian is visiting Connecticut from his home in Florida is going through the family photo bin and I am planning on meeting with him to sort through it and help put names to faces if I can!

Engram Family Part 3

We started off our story about my mother’s paternal grandparents and their family here, and continued their story to 1930 here, carried on with Theresa, Kathryn, and Louise here, and finished off with Elizabeth and Hannah here. There was an extra story about Elizabeth here.

Jacob Sr, my great grandfather, spent his entire adult life as a farmer in the Bronx, which sounds a little unreal knowing the present day Bronx. He originally settled in New York City where he was living when he and Katherine were married and when Theresa was born. From 1895 until his death he lived in Westchester, which was part of the Bronx, across the bay from Queens, Pelham Parkway between White Plains and Williamsbridge Road. Theresa, his oldest daughter, lived her married life on City Island so she was fairly close to him, and Jacob, my grandfather, lived with him after World War I, until 1930 when he began farming in Flushing Queens, across the bay from the Bronx.

By the 1940 census, he was living with his daughter Elizabeth, her husband Albert, and their two children. He was 79 and not working but I mentioned in Elizabeth’s story he was employed as a groundskeeper at Woodlawn Cemetery and mapped out it was about 10 minutes from their home. It’s very likely Jacob lived with Elizabeth and Albert because by this time Jacob Jr. was married. Since they had lived with Jacob Jr on the farm, he might have helped them in some way with their home in Yonkers so they would take in their father. Aunt Joanne said in an email:
“My father made sure his father was cared for throughout his life.”

Jacob was eighty-four years old when he died September 4, 1944. Whether that’s his real age is unknown because this death certificate say he was born in 1859 but census reports, and the ship manifest ages given equal 1862.

The stories I’ve been told tell me he wasn’t a very nice man. He was an alcoholic who was abusive to his wife and possibly his children.

My aunt Joanne shared in an email:
”though my Dad never spoke of his father being brutal…my cousin Addie shared a story of Dad being chased by his father with a pitchfork.”
Could that have been during the time she and her parents, Elizabeth and Albert, lived with Jacob Jr.?

In Kathryn’s letters to her niece Irene, Theresa’s daughter, she said:
”I have always felt cheated that we did not know more of my father’s background. I know because of his ‘problem’, he alienated members of his family. I remember the last time I saw my Aunt Juliana, my father insulted her and she left in tears and never came again. She was extremely attractive and had on a very stylish dress, which she made. She was a designer of clothing. I couldn’t take my eyes off that dress, it was beautiful. My mother used to tell us my father’s relatives told her my dad had a wonderful mother.”

Sadly, this is all the information I have on my great grandfather. I wish there was some happy information too. These pictures came from my 2nd cousin Brian. His mother was Irene, the daughter of Theresa and George Murphy.

My Veterans

In honor of Veterans Day, I’m sharing the story I wrote in June of 2024 for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. It’s called, The Effects of War. There are links within that story that share the details of their time served.

Beginning with World War I, there was my biological maternal grandfather, Jacob Engram and my paternal grandfather, Charles Jakiela.

My Great Uncle Bronislaw Liro went back to Poland before World War I broke out, fought for the Austrian Army, was captured, and escaped from Siberia.

World War II saw my Uncle Connie and my dad enlist in the Army Air Force and my Uncle Walt and Uncle Mal in the Navy. My Uncle Walt lived through the horror of Pearl Harbor 3 weeks fresh out of Navy radio school.

While cleaning out my aunt’s home, I found a letter from my Great Uncle Antoni written in 1947 describing the aftermath of World War II.

My father in law Harold served in the Korean War as a cook, his brother Ronald as an infantry tank driver, and my step father in law Paul was in the motor pool.

It’s an honor to have these brave men in my family.

The Mishkind-Engram Annullment

In my last post, I told you about the short marriage of Elizabeth Engram to Barney Mishkind. It lasted less than a year and then she went on to marry Alfred Klein, except she didn’t marry him until they were approaching their “25th wedding anniversary”.

Someone with Barney in his family tree alerted me to court documents under Elizabeth Mishkind. I was surprised to see that the information matched court documents under her father’s name. Because they are over 100 years old, I was able to download them through the Bronx Court Records website.

They were the court proceedings for Elizabeth to receive an annulment from her marriage to Barney and contained interesting information.

Her grounds for an annulment were that she was not yet 18 when she got married, that she didn’t voluntarily cohabitate with him after she turned 18 years old, and she married without the knowledge of her parents.

The first step was on April 8, 1918, her father, Jacob Engram was appointed her legal guardian, because she was not 21. (I continue to go back and forth with “Ingram or Engram” because the documents and even their own signatures use both!).

Elizabeth’s sister, Kathryn, served Barney with the summons and complaint on April 9, 1918 when she met him at 25 Lenox Avenue in New York. Although he had 30 days to respond, he never did.

Exhibits in the online file included:

a note from the reverend of St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx confirming that Elizabeth was born on November 1, 1899 in New York. This lists her name as Catherine Elizabeth Engram.
Her baptism certificate from Holy Family Church in the Bronx
The marriage license from Wednesday, June 6, 1917 for a service performed by rev. William Hesskamp of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New York

*1841 Bathgate Avenue Bronx* *present day*

In late June of 1918, Elizabeth sat for testimony in court. She said after they were married, he brought her back to the hospital where she worked and lived, and he went home to his people. Whenever he came back to New York, they hired a furnished room. But, she claimed, after she turned 18, she didn’t “voluntarily cohabitate” with him. “He treated me brutally”, she said. Q: what did he do? A: Why he beat me.

Next on the stand was her father Jacob. He lists his residence as Pelham Parkway between White Plains and Williamsbridge Road, which is more defined than at any other information I’ve found. His testimony was limited to her date of birth and when he found out she was married, which he said was March of 1918.

*Engram Farm in 1918 somewhere within this area between White Plains Road and Williamsbridge Road*

Kathryn had the most information. She said she knew Barney for a little over a year and met him a week or two before he and Elizabeth were married. They met when the three of them went to the cemetery to Kathryn and Elizabeth’s mother’s grave. The conversation of marriage must have come up because Elizabeth said they had no intention of marrying, but later Barney told Kathryn he did have the intention of it. When Kathryn found out a week of two later that they were married, she didn’t tell her father because her mother had only been gone five months and “it would only make him feel very bad at the time”. (Don’t forget, Kathryn was the sister who stayed home and took care of Elizabeth, Louise, and Hannah under unbearable, alcoholic conditions).

She continued her testimony telling the court that she told Jacob in March of 1918 because Barney was treating Elizabeth “brutally” and “I could not stand for it anymore.” At the time, Barney was back in New York and they were living in a furnished room on Corlear Avenue. Kathryn said Elizabeth was there against her will. “He compelled her by death”, “he said he would kill her if she didn’t go with him”.

Elizabeth got back on the stand and said while Barney was in New York for 2 weeks, she gave up her employment at the hospital (never named) and he threatened her. The court asked her in a variety of ways whether, after her 18th birthday, they lived “as husband and wife”. She claimed no, and that she was there because he said he’d beat her, and he did during that time.

I just have to interject here that she grew up in a family with an alcoholic father who beat her mother and here she is in the same situation. It’s no wonder Kathryn and Louise never got married and Hannah had two short marriages.

At the end of this, Elizabeth’s lawyer states that Barney has never responded to the summons and complaint and so an attorney is appointed to represent him.

The files include a deposition from Elizabeth’s attorney Barney Levy, who says he was informed that Barney is in the military as a private in the 105th field Artillery and is stationed at Camp Stewart in Newport News Virginia and he does not intent to object or contest and is willing for the marriage to be annulled.

*Barney’s military record – furloughed February 19 to March 1, 1918 (the 2 weeks he was in New York forcing Elizabeth to live with him)*

Back in court, the lawyer assigned to Barney is deposed and says he mailed him a letter asking for information as to whether he objected but received no response. The lawyer spoke with Barney’s mother who said both she and her son had no objection to the annulment. The lawyer spoke with Barney’s father on July 21, 1918, who said “the facts alleged are perfectly true” and he had a serious conversation with his son and know there are no objections and in fact, Barney though the annulment was already done.

The lawyer presents a letter he was handed from Barney’s father, allegedly from Barney that acknowledges the facts and has no objection whatsoever to the granting of the decree for annulment. Probably because Elizabeth has been receiving his service pay as his wife!

The letter says:
Dear Folks,
I just received your letter and was glad to hear from you especially about the case. Everything is fine, but you must get me a duplicate degree (decree) and sworn and signed by a notary and send to me at once as I must send it to the War Department or else Ma will not get my pay for some time. But go up to see Eliz about the 23 of July and ask Eliz for my money and have the lawyer tell her that she is receiving money under false pretenses and will be put (?) in Jail (?) as… that is the extent of the letter copied.

On July 26, 1918 the judge rules that Elizabeth is entitled to a judgement of annulment and “after three months a final judgement may be entered”.

November 12, 1918, the final judgement is granted and Elizabeth Mishkind is once again Elizabeth Engram.